Experiment #11: Becoming 7% Better?
Applying the rule of growth to be a better human... 1% at a time!
Experiment: 7 Days of making 1% improvements throughout my life
Hypothesis: I will (obviously) be 7% better of a human being by the end of the week
Result: I had to dock a few percentages, so I’m exactly 4% better of a human 😂😂😂
P.S. Quick update on last week’s ASK for help! Thank you SO much! I’m attending a Substack learning tomorrow, July 22nd and got some fabulous insights from two of you direct-to-my-inbox! You = MY people. ️️❤️
Introducing the 1% Rule of Growth:
The 1% rule of growth is the idea that making small, incremental improvements over time can lead to significant results. The cumulative effects of these small changes can be exponential. For example, if you improve by 1% each day for a year, you'll end up 37 times better by the end of the year. Conversely, if you get 1% worse each day for a year, you'll decline almost to zero.
A website designer I collaborate with recently shared this idea with me…
Whenever she wants to learn a new skill, improve an area of her business, or get better at something, she focuses on mastering it just 1% at a time.
Through the years, this has been her key to serious growth in all sorts of avenues of her life.
When I heard her 1% rule of growth, I LOVED it and got to thinking…
What if I strived to be 1% better in every client project I took on!? I already do this in some areas of my business, refining and making things a little better every time.
Then, I thought even bigger…
What if I strived to be 1% better every single day!?
How would this impact my life and others around me?
What would happen if I applied this every day for a whole week?
A whole month?
A whole year!?
I decided to start small and tested out 7 Days of 1% Improvements in my life. When in doubt… test and see, right!?
The Experiment Unfolded (as expected) 1% at a Time…
How do you even track whether or not you succeeded? What to focus your 1% attention on every day?
While I didn’t have clear answers to those questions, my modus operandi was to let each day unfold. Meanwhile, I’d mindfully choose to be 1% better in some specific area. As a result, I approached most of the day more present and focused, more grounded, more compassionate, and caring. On the other side of the day, I reflected to see if I could’ve been 1% kinder, calmer, and slower.
I quickly learned that being 1% better in life every day comes down to SLOWING DOWN. (which admittedly is hard for me)
Day One - Saturday: We have a family member I’ve been connecting with lately who I haven’t seen in person for 9 years…
…despite them living up the road and my husband seeing them frequently…
I had something to give them, and as I usually do, I could’ve just sent it along with him the next time he went to see them. Instead, I did 1% better. I got in my car and I drove there. It’s never too late to move 1% closer to someone in a relationship and build that bridge 1% stronger.
Day Two - Sunday: I don’t usually help out with the chores that involve our home’s exterior (or really anything handy). But on Sunday, I had this insatiable hankering to help with home projects! Hand me a paintbrush, hammer, screwdriver - anything!! Just get this woman a project STAT. My husband said he’d love to have me paint the balusters of our deck. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the paint yet though and the store to purchase it wasn’t open. He handed me a paintroller and I “helped” with (I think he was just appeasing me this time around FYI) painting the back of our garage. I also got in about 20 bajillion% more physical activity than I do on a normal day, learned at least 1% more about painting, and got 1% more excited to tackle the project next week. I also listened to a bunch of Helena Bonham Carter’s History’s Secret Heroes Podcast and learned 1% more about WWII. I went to bed 1% more grateful than the day before, for sure!
Day Three - Monday: With a flexible work schedule at the moment, I volunteered to bring my 16-year-old nephew to a doctor’s appointment. This was my opportunity to be a 1% better auntie! I’m guilty of dropping the ball on spending time with him and this is an area I definitely can stand to do 1% better. We had a GREAT time, and it was a powerful 1% step forward in our auntie-nephew relationship.
Day Four - Tuesday: I was -1% better this day. Points deducted. I was impatient and agitated. Plans fell through, things kept going wrong, and wrenches were thrown at me from every direction. As a result, I felt overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time, anxious, tired, and frustrated. I procrastinated like crazy and looked back at the end of the day having done pretty much nothing.
Day Five - Wednesday: In the morning while journaling, I was writing about a friend I was struggling to connect with on a deeper level. We were getting together that morning for a small group we’re both a part of and I ended up having an amazing 1:1 conversation with her! I would say it was a far more than 1% move to building more connection between us.
Day Six - Thursday: I had a challenging get-together with a friend and… we didn’t start off on the best foot. She came at me with some pretty intense energy. I was already feeling all sorts of feels and overly sensitive in general. However, rather than react like I usually would (ie. shut down, run, fix, ignore it completely)…
…I took a moment in our interaction and reset my energy. I physically readjusted, and I mentally took a beat. I knew, if I did need to call it and leave, I had my own back and could express the disconnect confidently. The reset and internal pause were extremely helpful and the rest of our time was smooth. I feel like this was a 1% improvement over how I may have reacted and responded in the past.
Day Seven - Friday: Interesting day. Contractors at the house installing our new generator and getting the electricity hooked up. Plans went awry, things felt like they were spiraling out of my control. I knew I could only focus on and get a few tasks accomplished amidst all the chaos, so I wrote a list of just three. I got approximately 1% of each item done but did my best. Later, we had my sister-in-law and nephew over for game night and my heart was about 80% fuller in every way imaginable.
Outcome: Am I 7% Better? (I know that math doesn’t pan out, but just go with me here)
Am I a better person after last week?
Hang on, I’ll go ask my husband his thoughts… 🤪
I jest, but…
All of this got me thinking about what “better” really is. Is it better for ME or for those around me? Is it better AT something or lightening up on something?
Better looks different depending on the day, moment, and situation. Can we quantify it?
I think for me it boils down to a commitment not to strive for “better” per se, but to always show up giving my BEST.
Sometimes your best isn’t the same best that it was yesterday. And sometimes better isn’t what’s called for.
What I DO think this experiment showed me is what I VALUE. It shined a light on the areas in my life it feels important to strive for my best, where I want to improve and connect more, go more slowly, learn, and grow.
It’s an Interesting Thought Experiment… What do you think?
Will you try it? You don’t need to document every day like I did. But what would it look like for you? What do you want to keep on getting 1% better at? Where could you stand to take a pause and show up your best?
P.S. A (potential) tip for fellow Substackers, email newsletter writers, and long-form content creators!
Substack wasn’t working when I went to go sit down and write this. My draft I’d worked on throughout the week… POOF! Gone and I couldn't access it when I wanted to be working on it! Thankfully, past Emily had present Emily’s back and I’d created a Google doc (my first time ever doing this) while I prepped for my post this week. The Google doc allowed me to keep working until Substack got their act together. My hard work was saved and I didn’t have to try to recreate it all from sheer memory! Substack started working again the next day and restored my draft, but not a risk I wanted to take -I’ll keep making a Google Doc duplicate, just in case.